Berlin German security authorities are alarmed by increasing economic and scientific espionage by China. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution recently described the People’s Republic as the “greatest threat”. In this context, the so-called Confucius Institutes at the universities are now even more in the focus of the authorities.
In its current annual report, the German domestic secret service classifies the facilities as an instrument of political influence. “In the field of education and research, China’s activities and cooperation formats threaten to undermine academic freedom,” it says. The federal government is correspondingly concerned.
According to government information, there are 19 Confucius Institutes in Germany, most of which are located at universities. Language courses are held there, as well as events on Chinese culture and history. The interior ministry of department head Nancy Faeser (SPD) warns that this cooperation should be viewed “extremely critically from a security perspective”. Therefore, the universities are “regularly informed of the associated dangers as part of raising awareness,” said a ministry spokeswoman for the Handelsblatt.
In the Federal Research Ministry, the cooperation between the universities and the Confucius Institutes has long been classified as problematic. The responsible minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) is no longer sufficient to indicate dangers alone. In view of the warnings from the constitutional protectors and the generally critical German-Chinese relationship, she is demanding consequences.
Stark-Watzinger wants to set “clear limits” on China’s “direct influence” on science and teaching, as she told the Handelsblatt. She urges the independent German universities to end the cooperation: “More universities than before should critically question their connections to the Confucius Institutes and live up to their responsibilities,” said Stark-Watzinger.
The Confucius Institutes are subordinate to the Chinese Ministry of Education
In fact, some universities have now ended their cooperation, including the universities in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Trier. In most cases, the institutes were not completely closed, but are no longer directly attached to the universities.
Other universities, on the other hand, are continuing the cooperation despite criticism – sometimes only under slightly different modalities, such as the University of Duisburg-Essen. Experts fear, however, that influence is still possible. It was precisely there, at the University of Duisburg-Essen, that the most spectacular case of attempted influence to date had taken place.
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In 2021, the Confucius Institute, which is affiliated with the university, canceled a planned presentation of a book about China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping at short notice – under pressure from Beijing, as it later turned out.
The institutes are assigned to the Chinese Ministry of Education and are suspected of spreading propaganda on behalf of the Chinese state. Beijing denies the allegations. However, how important they are for the Chinese leadership was last shown in May of this year.
The minister wants to set “direct limits” to “direct influence”.
(Photo: imago images/photothek)
During his visit to Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang took the time to visit the Confucius Institute at the Free University in Berlin. It was founded in 2006 as the first of its kind in Germany. During his visit, Qin emphasized the positive sides of the cooperation. Since its founding, the institute has not only contributed to the promotion of Chinese language and culture, but also “spread the seeds of friendship,” Qin is quoted as saying by the state news agency Xinhua.
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The Federal Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, emphasizes that the institutes serve within the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategy of influence in particular to spread an “immaculate image of China”. “At least indirect influence by the CCP on the Confucius Institutes follows from the fact that these are financed to a not inconsiderable extent by the Chinese state,” explained the ministry spokeswoman.
This support often means “considerable financial relief” for cooperating German universities, but at the same time harbors “the risk of dependency and thus a gradual restriction of academic freedom”.
University Rectors’ Conference against blanket bans on cooperation
The German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) confirmed attempts to exert influence by Confucius Institutes, for example at the Hanover and Duisburg-Essen locations. These are “under no circumstances acceptable and not compatible with the freedom of science,” HRK President Walter Rosenthal told the Handelsblatt. The universities concerned had lodged a “clear objection” at the time.
However, a “blanket ban on cooperation” with Confucius Institutes does not seem to make sense to him, added Rosenthal. The local experiences are too different for that. This also applies to the contractual framework conditions with the institutes. “In some cases, the cooperation was terminated or the cooperation is suspended, in other cases the cooperation agreement was renegotiated,” reported the HRK President. At the same time, he emphasized that these decisions should be left to the universities as part of their autonomous action.
Security politicians from the Greens and CDU see things differently. “Unfortunately, there is still insufficient sensitivity to attempts by authoritarian states to exert far-reaching influence in the German and European scientific community,” said Konstantin von Notz (Greens), chairman of the Bundestag’s secret service control committee, the Handelsblatt. Therefore, the activities of the Confucius Institutes “must be examined very closely in order to effectively protect the freedom of science, but also our democracy”.
The deputy chairman of the secret service body, Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU), spoke of a “danger of espionage” to which Germany has so far hardly reacted with any consistent measures. The Confucius Institutes, for example, were “used to initiate espionage, social control and intimidation of Chinese living abroad,” Kiesewetter told the Handelsblatt.
The CDU politician sees such scientific cooperation as a gateway for the People’s Republic to recruit scientists or students “who have special access to knowledge and know-how in relevant areas”. This is part of China’s “hybrid strategy” to position itself better for its imperial aspirations. “China is not only in our networks, but also in some minds at our universities,” said Kiesewetter.
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